Dr. Deb Fontaine is the associate vice president for strategic priorities at Florida State College at Jacksonville, in Jacksonville, Florida, a multi-campus state college with annual unduplicated enrollments of over 38,000. Her current responsibilities include leading the formulation and implementation of collegewide strategic planning efforts and the College’s Guided Pathways work. Additionally, she leads the college’s assessment efforts, QEP development, and Title III grant implementation. Prior to this role, she served in a variety of roles at Northwest Florida State College, including assistant to the president for accreditation; chair of English, communications and social sciences at Northwest Florida State College; and lead developmental English instructor. She has also completed training as a SACSCOC academic evaluator and as a Six Sigma Green Belt.
Her interests include institutional transformation, strategic planning, teaching and learning, and assessment. She has led “grassroots” assessment redesigns, engaging faculty and staff in the thoughtful development and implementation of meaningful assessment plans that provided actionable data to inform their student success work.
Education
Ph.D. (Technical Communication and Rhetoric) | Texas Tech University
M.A. English | Eastern New Mexico University
M.Ed. | Eastern New Mexico University
B.A. (Social Science Education) | Stetson University
Past Experience
Associate Vice President, Strategic Priorities | Florida State College at Jacksonville
Assistant to the President for Accreditation | Northwest Florida State College
Acting Dean, General Education | Northwest Florida State College
Department Chair, English/Communications/Social Sciences | Northwest Florida State College
Professor, English, Developmental English, Business and Technical Communication | Northwest Florida State College
How has education changed your life/your family?
As a first-generation college student, I was lucky to have my family’s support in my academic journey, but soon realized not all students were as fortunate as I was. Although I had always wanted to be a teacher, the realization that so many students struggled not because of academic unpreparedness, but from a number of external pressures, led me to redirect my focus to the community college system. Working with students who need the most support, academic or otherwise, is most rewarding. Supporting students on their journey to achieve their academic and personal goals is what motivates my work.